In response to a steady background the cone initially hyperpolarizes to a peak and then sags back to a potential level that is one half the initial peak level. Just as in the dark-adapted state, the dynamic range of the light-adapted cone spanned about 3 1/2 log units but this range was shifted to encompass a brighter range of light intensities. When the photoresponses of the cones were compared to those of the horizontal cells under the same adaptation states it was observed that the cone to horizontal cell synapses produces additional effects. These effects caused the cone-horizontal cell system to have its highest gain for light modulations around the background level.